Training Log Archive: BorisGr

Event: QOC Manassas
 

QOC local event at Manassas.

My plan was to take this easy, jogging around the course - get the benefits of running through terrain and orienteering, but without aggravating my hamstring injury.

For company, I took along Poppy, a feisty dog we were dog-sitting. She was an excellent companion, running energetically the entire way, and collecting all the ticks (we counted ten in the evening) and warning all the snakes (i spotted seven) on our course.

I maintained a nice, comfortable jogging pace throughout, but made a lot more mistakes than I had anticipated. I can blame Poppy on a portion of them, but most of it is on me, though it is admittedly harder to navigate when one arm and half your focus is occupied trying to keep a dog to stick to the same side of each tree as you.

I lost time on 8 by (a) spending a minute or so getting Poppy to drink; (b) picking a bad route - going straight; (c) getting spooked when Poppy stepped on a black rat snake, only to jump two feet to the side to land on another rat snake. This was a bit of a shock to my system, and I took some time to reset before continuing.

I lost a minute on 11 when I switched to a walk after encountering another snake while crossing the power line. All the snakes and deadfall sapped some motivation at that point, especially with the realization that I would have to turn around and immediately cross the snake-infested power line once again.

12 was just a plain old navigational mistake. I hit a very distinct ditch bend to the NE of the control, but instead of adjusting direction, I just kept going. Figured it out after a while, returned to the ditch bend, and attacked again. About 2:30 gone!

Mostly clean the rest of the way - AP shows time lost on 14, but that's mostly dog drinking time.

Really fun to be out - I had low expectations for Manassas, but I really enjoyed myself. Afterwards, a fun time with Inara while Alli ran. We played in a gravel pile, looked for tadpoles, and threw rocks into a creek. The kid was properly tired and muddy after a great day outdoors.

RG: http://qocweb.org/routes/cgi-bin/reitti.pl?act=map...

C • Wow 8

Blue - Splits

Elliptical

Full strength routine

I went for a very gentle jog on the National Mall at lunchtime. It was warm and very crowded with tourists, but nary a MAGA hat, surprisingly! The hamstring felt a bit sore, but not bad and did not get worse during the run. On the other hand, my right glute, which bugged me somewhat last weekend, made itself known with a persistent dull pain. Hopefully Robert will sort it out next week. Anyway, nice to run outside!

Back to elliptical intervals, 4x4 minutes.

Stretching

Long elliptical session at lunchtime. Would like to get in at least one 100-minute session before Billygoat.

Elliptical

Full strength routine plus extra hamstring exercises.

Out of precaution, I skipped today's race. I did not want to reinjure the hamstring like I did at the Flying Pig. I think it was the right choice.

Instead, I spent the day announcing. With the live results working well, this was a joy today. It was especially fun to watch our juniors battle it out for JWOC spots and Interscholastic/Intercollegiate titles with some great performances all weekend. Erin and Greg have built an excellent program. We have competitive team trials year after year, and that it is a testament to their great work. Now all we need is to translate that to the senior level.

In addition to the great racing, it was fun to see the camaraderie and spirit in the JDT/JNT. They seemed to act like a cohesive unit, hanging out together all weekend and cheering each other on. This is the kind of thing that builds lifelong friendships and keeps people in the sport. Love it!

I see the younger kids (Max, Patrick, Samantha, Emilia), and I am hoping that they look at the older kids and see that as something they want to be a part of someday.

When we got home, Alli took a post-nap Inara on a playdate, and I hit the gym for a bit.